Ultra Camera - No motion detection, no recording, battery indicator stuck on 100%

[delay1968]

I have a 2 camera Ultra system. 1 camera has been trouble free, while the other has already been replaced once (after a ridiculous month long battle with support which wasted way too much of my life). That replacement camera worked ok for a couple months, though the battery life was clearly worse than it should have been (not because of distance to hub or how much recording). I was willing to overlook the battery issue because it was at least working otherwise. Now, that replacement camera, as of January 24, does not sense motion and therefore does not record at all. The battery indicator also shows 100% all the time regardless of actual battery life. Firmware is up to date on all devices. I have tried every possible troubleshooting method (removing camera, resyncing camera, rebooting hub, etc.).

Hoping that someone from Arlo (JamesC?) sees this and can help get yet another replacement. I do not have the time or patience for more hour plus long phone calls with Arlo support with someone who barely speaks english, reading  form a script, telling me to do everything I already did.

[Arloultra]

It’s a crapshoot! I quit wasting my time posting problems till they hire programmers who's capable of resolving all the constant issues.

[JamesC]

delay1968,

I see you have an open support case already on this issue. I will review your support ticket and escalate as necessary.

JamesC

[delay1968]

Yes, It has been 6 days since I heard from them. They asked me a couple questions which I promptly answered and have not heard back.

[delay1968]

JamesC,

Shortly after your last comment, they responded with the following..

"Thank you for responding and my apologies for the delayed response. I understand that you have tried the motion detection test multiple times. However, if the camera did not flash any amber light. I would need to know how did you move in-front of the camera. Did you move in-front of the camera by going towards or away from the camera's view or were you going from the left side of the cameras view to the right side of the cameras view? Depending on how you moved in-front of the camera will help me provide you a resolution to your issue with the replacement camera."

Despite this being an insultingly stupid question, I immediately responded something to the effect of I moved in every possible way several times and it doesn't work.

A week later and I still have no response.

[StephenB]

---

@delay1968 wrote:

Despite this being an insultingly stupid question,

---

Why did you find it insulting?  Many users don't know that the PIR sensors are arranged to detect motion across the field of view.

[delay1968]

For a few reasons. As stated, this camera was working for many months and then out of the blue completely stopped detecting motion. Clearly the problem is not that I wasn't "testing" it correctly.

Also, the motion detection is pretty sensitive on these cameras regardless of direction of motion. How would you even test motion detection where you aren't moving something across the field of view?

[StephenB]

---

@delay1968 wrote:

For a few reasons. As stated, this camera was working for many months and then out of the blue completely stopped detecting motion. Clearly the problem is not that I wasn't "testing" it correctly.

---

Asking you to confirm something you've already tried doesn't mean they are insulting you.  They are simply doing their job.  Although they should (and likely are) taking past behavior of the system into account, it is often useful to troubleshoot from scratch, and not make assumptions about the history.

---

@delay1968 wrote:

How would you even test motion detection where you aren't moving something across the field of view?

---

You test it while standing in the center of the field of view (far enough away to not be near the edge).  "Across the field of view" actually means into the field of view from the side.  Many folks do have their cameras aimed directly at a doorway (or a gate), and in those situations the camera often won't sense someone approaching or leaving.

[LandJS]

Maybe stupid because because this is not a new issue, multiple people have had this complaint, they have tried the trouble shooting steps and it remains but even more because as he said, they were working fine and now aren't with no changes.  If they are working fine, his setup is fine and if they quit without changing anything moving them around won't solve it.  I have two in my drive that worked for a week but not this morning for a car slowly backing up, moving them around isn't going to fix it.

[StephenB]

---

@LandJS wrote:

Maybe stupid because because this is not a new issue, multiple people have had this complaint, 

---

Yes, but unnecessary isn't the same as insulting. 

Of course it didn't lead to anything, so arguably it was a waste of time.  Still, there often are multiple causes that have similar symptoms, so I think the "maybe" is an important qualifier.

[WalM]

Crazy. One of my cameras stopped working and I contacted support. After and hour online with them, they made me use a pin to hard reset the system and then load all the cameras and hub back. Worked for a day and now the app says base station offline. However the motion detection still works and send me through notification with no still shot......

Guy’s you have to get your act together. This is not good enough for a premium product.

[delay1968]

So after waiting another week with no response, I called support and went through the same troubleshooting motions with them once again. Luckily this "expert" was much more efficient than the ones I had dealt with before and it only took about 20 minutes for them to agree to replace my camera. She was even able to talk to me without giving nonsensical answers that were clearly from a script. Still annoying that I had to call and she had no reason why they never responded to my last online communication, but at least it was resolved (assuming the new camera actually works).

Last time it took well over a month and they even admitted I had a bad camera but wouldn't send a new one because it would probably also be bad. Yes they actually said that to me. I had to spend countless hours on the phone with them to get the replacement. They also tried to make me send the old one back before sending the replacement and pay for shipping that time. After fighting with them about that they finally agreed to send the replacement first but they took a credit card number to insure I sent the old one back. None of that nonsense this time so it is a slight improvement I guess.